


Merle and the Mad Scientist

by LindsayBay



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: M/M, Male Slash, Slash, Woodbury (Walking Dead)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-19
Updated: 2017-12-19
Packaged: 2019-02-17 06:13:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13070805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LindsayBay/pseuds/LindsayBay
Summary: Merle Dixon is a hard, prickly man. Milton is surprised when the older man seems to feel compassion for him. Contains swearing, a homophobic slur, and some icky zombie stuff.





	Merle and the Mad Scientist

Present:

Milton made his way to the front of the bleachers. People looked at him funny and some of them snickered. He was wearing a pair of ear-protecting muffs, the kind that people who work in noisy places wear to preserve their hearing. Milton had only been to one of the fights before and he hadn’t stayed very long. The spectators screaming for blood, the rattle of the biters’ chains, the fires illuminating everything–it had been too much for Milton. But with the noise muted, the intensity of fight night in Woodbury was reduced to a level that Milton could take.

Merle caught sight of Milton. His face registered surprise and a big, cocky grin spread across his face. Milton smiled back almost demurely. The sudden pinkness of his cheeks would not be visible in the firelight.

“You’re going down, old man!” Merle’s opponent tonight was some kid, a newcomer. He was big, well over six feet, and broad. Milton shook his head. The boy was going to be taught a hard lesson.

“Is that so,” Merle said. He was still grinning at Milton. The kid lunged. Merle stepped out of the way and the kid nearly went head-long into a biter. Panicking, he threw himself backward, landing on his butt in the dirt. Merle was on him in a split second, holding his knife to the kid’s throat. The boy just lay there limply, his eyes rolling with fear. “Shiiiiiit. I didn’t even break a sweat. I oughtta just put ya out of your misery.” He grimaced, then got to his feet. He strode over to Milton, took him by the hand, and led him away, cheerfully flipping off Cesar when he shouted a ribald remark.

Merle threw open the door of a storage shed and pulled Milton inside with him. He put his hand on Milton’s chest and pushed him up against a wall, holding him there as he kissed him hard, almost savagely. Milton submitted, wrapping his arms around Merle’s neck, moaning a little.

Milton had a little experience with other men. Not much. Those explorations were nothing like what he had with Merle. Merle was hungry. It was overwhelming but in a good way. Merle nipped and sucked at Milton’s lips, ran his tongue over Milton’s tongue. He pulled back and grinned, pulling off Milton’s earmuffs. “I was all worked up for a fight and got no satisfaction. Guess I had to take it out on ya.”

“It’s–it’s fine.” Milton was breathless.

“That’s good ‘cause I ain’t done with ya yet.” Merle pressed his forehead to Milton’s. “Gonna make ya call to God, boy,” he growled. His hand unbuttoned Milton’s shirt, his mouth left love bites on Milton’s neck, one of his hard thighs went between Milton’s knees. Milton surrendered himself to whatever Merle wanted.

………….

Two months previous:

The woman strapped to the table was rambling deliriously. “Momma shut the attic door,” she mumbled. “The rabbits’ll get out if you don’t.” The bite on her upper arm was puffy around the edges and oozing clear fluid.

“How can ya stand to do this, just sit and watch ‘em die?” Merle asked.

“Someone has to be able to do it. Science is the only way we’ll defeat this… modern plague,” Milton replied.

“Don’t it get to ya?”

“I’m very good at compartmentalizing. I can turn off my emotions while I’m working.” He placed his hand on the woman’s shoulder. “Anna. Anna, can you hear me?”

The woman turned her head and squinted at Milton. “Give me back my tennis racket,” she slurred.

Milton sighed and rubbed his face. “I don’t know if we can get much from her, to be honest. All we really know about her is her name.”

“She was already pretty damn sick when I found her.”

“Thank you for bringing her in, anyway.” The woman’s body started jerking; she was going into convulsions. “It won’t be long now. You can leave. I’ll get you when I need you to carry her back out.”

“Nah. I’ll stay.” Merle turned a chair backward and straddled it.

Milton gazed at the older man, bemused. He couldn’t figure Merle Dixon out. He was prickly, argumentive, prone to poking at peoples’ sore spots. The only person that had any luck at keeping him in line was the Governor. But every so often, there were flashes of a different side of Merle.

The only reason Milton could figure for Merle to stay was that he didn’t want Milton to go through this ordeal alone.

Merle called him Four-Eyes and Mad Scientist and snarled at him when he asked for help with the sort of manual labor that Milton had never been good at. But Merle also had moments of generosity, like the time he picked up a pile of science magazines for Milton while out on a supply run. And when some new arrival had called Milton a faggot and punched him in the stomach, Merle had given the man a thorough beating.

The woman’s heels drummed on the table, her back arched in an impossible curve, and then she went limp. “Anna. Anna. Anna, are you there?” Her eyes were open but completely vacant. Milton stayed by her side, repeating her name. Fifteen minutes went by, twenty. Her fingers twitched. “Anna?” A sound came from her throat, liquid and gutteral. “Anna?” She lunged against her bonds, trying to get to Milton. Her jaws snapped so hard that Milton heard teeth splinter. He backed away, reaching for the pistol the Governor had given him, but Merle leapt from his chair and stabbed her straight through one eye. “Thank you, Merle.”

Merle shrugged as he wiped his knife clean on the woman’s dress. “Ya okay?”

“Yes. I’m fine. Thank you for your concern.”

“Could ya get those straps for me? They’re kinda tricky with just one hand.” Milton undid the straps, then watched Merle pick the woman up and carry her away.

As was usual after an experiment day, Milton couldn’t sleep. Around two in the morning, he crept out of his apartment to a small patio. As he sat down on a bench, he noticed the orange glow of a lit cigarette in a dark corner. It partially illuminated a face. Merle. “Hello. What brings you here?” Milton asked.

“Knew I’d catch ya here.” Merle dropped the cigarette and ground it under his heel before coming forward to where the moonlight could reach him.

Merle knew he came here? Milton watched wordlessly as Merle came closer and sat down next to him. The older man gently took his chin in his hands, surprising Milton with a kiss. Milton could taste whiskey on his lips. “You’ve been drinking?”

“I ain’t anywhere near drunk if that’s what yer askin’.” Merle kissed Milton again, more deeply this time. His stubble rasped Milton’s cheek. His hand wound through Milton’s hair. “I just felt like doin’ that.”

Milton nuzzled his face against the older man’s neck. “Come home with me?” he asked.

Around five o’ clock in the morning, he shook Merle awake. “You should leave now so no one knows you spent the night with me.”

Merle rolled over and blinked. “Ya ashamed of bein’ with me?” he snarled.

“No! No, I just thought you wouldn’t want anyone knowing that you’re… into men.”

Merle snorted. “I don’t give a shit. When I was fifteen, my daddy caught me with my hand down another boy’s pants and he damn near beat me to death. If I lived through that, I can live through Cesar callin’ me an ass-bandit.” He pushed Milton down onto his back. “I don’t care who knows we’re together.” He nipped at Milton’s collarbone. “Ya know, as long as we’re awake and already naked…”

…………..

Present:

BAM BAM BAM. “What the fuck,” Merle mumbled, “Ain’t even daylight yet”. Milton got up from their bed and pulled on a robe. The Governor was at the front door. Cesar was next to him, holding a doll-sized bundle in his arms. “Lavinia Johnson’s baby was born prematurely. There’s no way it’ll survive. If you get it to your lab quick–”

“Jesus H. motherfuckin’ Christ!” shouted a voice behind Milton. He turned. Merle was stark naked and enraged. “Ya goddamned vulture! Milton ain’t gonna learn nothin’ from some damn zombie baby! Just leave him alone!”

The Governor’s face went tight. “You forget who you’re talking to, Dixon. Maybe you need a reminder.”

“N-no, it’s okay, Merle. I’ll do it. I mean, that is what I do.” The last thing Milton wanted was to watch a baby die, but it looked like that’s what he would have to do to prevent a potentially disastrous showdown between his lover and the Governor. “Let me get dressed,” he said to the Governor. Merle followed him to the bedroom and yanked on the jeans he’d worn the night before. “What are you doing, Merle?”

“Ya think I’m lettin’ ya do that death watch all by yer lonesome?” Merle found his black wife-beater and pulled it over his head. “Fuckin’ hell. A baby.” He sat on the bed so Milton could help him get his boots on. When Merle stood up, Milton impulsively hugged him tightly. “What’s with this mushy shit?” Merle grumped, but he was smiling when Milton looked at him.

Milton smiled back, but it faded as he recalled why he was up before the dawn. “I suppose I should get going. Before the baby…” He headed for the door. He didn’t need to look back to know that Merle was following him.


End file.
